The Tale of the Golden Apple
by Cherokee Dragonfly
Summary: This is a little re-telling of one of my favourite legends. I did it for school a while ago but only just thought of putting it on here. Enjoy & r/r!!


Disclaimer: Don't own anything, it all belongs to the ancient Greeks. This is just my re-telling.  
  
  
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There was rejoicing on Mount Olympus. A goddess, Thesis, was getting married. Every god and goddess was invited, except Eris, the goddess of quarrelling. Eris was angry that she out of all the gods had not been invited, so she planned her revenge. Just as the wedding began, she stood in the doorway of the chapel and threw into the congregation a golden apple with the inscription 'For the Fairest' on it. Three goddesses believed that they should claim the title, Hera (the Queen of the Gods and Zeus's wife), Athena (the goddess of wisdom and war, and Zeus's daughter) and Aphrodite (the goddess of beauty and love). They argued about which of the three was the fairest for about 20 years and Zeus did not know what to do. If he said that Hera, his wife, was the fairest, then Athena and Aphrodite would say that it was unfair and he was biased. But if he chose either of the other two, then Hera would be very angry with him and Hera could be very nasty when she wanted to be, just look at what she did to Heracles.   
Then, just by chance, his glance fell upon a handsome young man, Paris, the son of the King of Troy, and a bright idea took place in his mind. He immediately acted on it and went straight to the latest location that the three goddesses had occupied to continue their 'debate'.   
"Right you three!" he bellowed. "I want this pathetic squabble to be sorted out."  
"But Daddy," whined Athena "Isn't it obvious that I'm the fairest."  
"Well..." began Zeus  
"Watch it!" warned his wife.  
"Anyway" he said. "I have come up with a perfect solution."   
He rolled up his sleeves and said dramatically,  
"Let Paris decide!"  
"Who?" asked Aphrodite.  
"You know, that nice young man... oh never mind. Anyway, he's very conveniently situated not too far away, so go and ask him."  
The goddesses agreed readily, so they went down to earth to pay a visit on Paris.   
  
Paris woke up from a nice dream about sheep to see three very beautiful women bending over him.  
"What a nice surprise!" he said.  
Hera, not one to waste time on small talk, went straight to the point.  
"Paris son of Priam, which of us is the fairest?" she said, looking very threateningly at him.  
"Well... you're all really pretty, and it's quite hard for me to choose one specific person" he whimpered.  
"Let me help you," said Hera. "If you choose me, I shall make you the most powerful king that ever existed!"  
"That would be quite fun," he thought. "I could boss everyone around"  
But then Athena spoke.  
"If you choose me, I shall make you the most powerful warrior that ever walked the earth!" she said.  
"Hmmm, that wouldn't be too bad either. Think of all that glory," he thought, his interest in the subject growing slightly.  
Aphrodite was beginning to get desperate and said the first thing that came into her head,  
"If you choose me, I shall give you the love of the most beautiful woman on the planet!"  
As soon as she said that, Paris was sure which of the three was the fairest.  
"You, there, the one who said something about love, you're the fairest."  
Aphrodite's face broke out into a huge grin.  
"Great, go to Greece and claim the love of ... Helen! Thanks."  
And with that, she disappeared.  
Paris noticed that Hera and Athena wore very murderous faces, so he thought he'd better scarper.  
"Oh, sorry, I would love to stay and chat, you know, but I've got a wedding to arrange... mine!"   
So he ran off, sailed to Greece, and declared his love to Helen and she to him. Then they ran off to Troy together. But Helen's husband was a bit upset about this arrangement, and decided to go and get her back. So he gathered an army of one thousand ships, and they sailed away to war.  
  
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(A/N) Sorry if I got any names wrong. Tell me in ur reviews and I'll bear it in mind.  
Thanx  
Weird obsessed freak 


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